[Ip-health] WHO flu chief leaves for Novartis

[Joana Ramos]

http://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/43504/

By Kerry Grens

NEWS

WHO flu chief leaves for Novartis
Klaus St=F6hr steps down as leader of international efforts against
pandemic influenza to guide company's vaccine development

The Scientist
[Published 25th January 2007 03:18 PM GMT]


Klaus St=F6hr, former head of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global
Influenza Programme, stepped down this month to take a position with
Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, leading the company's development of
seasonal and H5N1 influenza vaccines.

At the WHO, St=F6hr was known as a visible advocate of developing vaccines
against the H5N1 strain of influenza and worked to assemble national
policies for surveillance and preparedness against a flu pandemic.
Because of St=F6hr's efforts, "the imperative of having to develop a
better influenza vaccine for seasonal flu and a vaccine for pandemic flu
is on the front burner," Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Scientist. "He
got the ball rolling," Fauci said.

A spokesperson at the WHO said there has not been a direct replacement
for St=F6hr's position. Albert Osterhaus, virology professor at Erasmus
Medical Center in Rotterdam and director of the WHO National Influenza
Centre, told The Scientist St=F6hr's decision to go private won't mute his
contributions to global flu preparedness. "There's nothing wrong with
going into the private sector," Osterhaus said, "and much more [effort]
should be going into public-private partnerships, because the private
sector is going to be developing the vaccines."

Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, a division of Novartis, was formed in
2006 after Novartis acquired Chiron. Although Chiron contributed to an
international vaccine shortage crisis in 2004, Novartis has become a
major player in global vaccine development. Last week, the company
announced that it received a $55 million grant from the US Department of
Health and Human Services to develop the adjuvant MF59 --which enhances
the immune response to influenza vaccine -- for the US market. Eric
Althoff, spokesperson for Novartis, said 27 million doses of vaccine
with MF59 already have been successfully administered in Europe.

Althoff told The Scientist one reason St=F6hr joined the company stems
from Chiron's work with flu cell culture technology. "It's the first new
technology in flu vaccine in more than 50 years. It's moving out of the
chicken egg," Althoff said. Efforts to reach St=F6hr for comment were
unsuccessful.

St=F6hr is not the first public leader to move into the private sector.
Last year Mahendra Rao, who led the stem cell division at the National
Institute on Aging, left for Invitrogen's stem cell and regenerative
medicine division. Rao's move was prompted by the US government's
refusal to fund new stem cell lines, and triggered negative reactions
among his colleagues.

St=F6hr's transition appears less upsetting to the influenza community. "I
think it's very good news, [St=F6hr] moving from public to private," John
Oxford, professor of virology at St Bartholomew's in London, told The
Scientist. Oxford added that there's a major upside to St=F6hr's departure
from the public realm: "When this outbreak comes, we'll all benefit from
a load of vaccine sitting there."

Kerry Grens
kgrens@the-scientist.com

Links within this article:

Klaus St=F6hr
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=3Dpubmed&cmd=3DSearch&itoo=
l=3Dpubmed_AbstractPlus&term=3D%22Stohr+K%22%5BAuthor%5D

World Health Organization Global Influenza Programme
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/mission/en

Novartis Vaccines
http://www.novartis-vaccines.com

N Stafford, "EU underprepared for flu," The Scientist, November 2, 2004.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22476/

Anthony Fauci
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/about/directors

Albert Osterhaus
http://www.virology.nl

D Wilkie, "The Chiron case: Good manufacturing practice gone bad," The
Scientist, March 14, 2005.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15317/

I Ganguli, "Flu vaccines: looking beyond eggs," The Scientist, March 31,
2006.
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23259/

K Pallarito, "NIH stem cell chief resigns," The Scientist, April 21, 2006.
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23340/

John Oxford
http://www.icms.qmul.ac.uk/centres/infectiousdisease/staff/index.html

--
Joana Ramos, MSW
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